*FM* - Fabulous Miraculous

Farmers' Market

What a year.

Wordless Wednesday

The Art of Cooking

As many of you who know me well*...I love to cook. Not only do I love to cook, I love food, I love ingredients, I love cookbooks, I love techniques and I love to experiment. LOVE IT! Nothing gives me more joy, with the exception of my family, to try out new concoctions on friends and family and get their feedback. I consider it art.

As I stand here and sort out green tomatoes I think...what will I do with all of these? Sure sure, I can make "fried green tomatoes," or "green tomato relish"...while good...I can only eat so much of it. So now what? I search cooking websites and cookbooks for inspiration.**

While what ended up being wasn't fancy, we have many jars of green salsa from my own "recipe." My first attempt at it with unripened tomatoes. Smoked in our fireplace, no less. Darn tasty in my opinion...and friends' too!


*Recently a friend who knows these facts came to me with a potential proposition...which has gotten my wheels-a-turning on a potential business opportunity! Stay tuned!!!
**Also, those who know me know that I have shelves and shelves of cookbooks but actually rarely make an actual recipe from them. Why you ask? I use them as a basis for my own recipes. Flavor combinations. And then I wing it...with the exception of baking. I suck at wing-baking.

One year ago today - October 15, 2008

One year ago today we celebrated our first year as a family with what else? Reflection, time together and Chinese food! Today we continued our tradition...

And while many changes have occurred during the past year...some things always remain the same.

2007 - 2009

Turn off the lights...

summer is over.

Yes, that's right...the harvest has come to an end (at least in my garden). Yesterday afternoon I heard that we were going to have a hard freeze during the night so that afternoon I went out to gather the rest of the fruits. Much to my dismay, we'd had a freeze the previous night. Some things were protected enough or hardy enough to have made it through, but others were not so fortunate.

I gathered up all of the herbs to be dried or frozen, tomatoes (red and green), a big bag of arugula, most of the bunching onions and the rest of the zucchini.

And this is what we woke up to.

While I'm never all that thrilled to see the first snow, CiBaby couldn't wait long enough to get out of her jammies in order to get out there!

First Day of School! A new begining...

Today was the official start of CiBaby's formal education...PRESCHOOL! Now, as some of you may recall, last year she was a pre-preschool dropout...but this year...this year will be different, I hope.

Last week we visited our new school during an Open House and CiBaby was adamant about telling me that "today is not a school day." Of course this continued today too. When I told her that indeed today was a school day and that it was going to be SUPER FUN! (in my best cheerleaderesque persona) she declared she didn't want to go. She was "too nervous to be away from Mama." Awwwe how sweet, but kid, you're goin'...and it's going to be GREAT!

So today we made it a super fun day. First we met up with friends for a playdate, and thankfully her best bud Wibby had just come from school and said it was "super fun." Then it was a rush home for a quick bite to eat and change of clothes and off we went to school. Before leaving I did remind CiBaby that she might have to tell her teachers that she has to go potty (yes, we're still working on that). Well, upon arriving with our special bottle, that she picked out herself, of soy milk and special snacks (incase the snack o' the day is something she cannot eat) she told me she had to go potty. We rushed to the bathroom, sat her down to hear her say, "it not coming." That's when we talked about how sometimes when we feel nervous we feel like we have to go...come'on, y'all know what I'm talking about.

Once back in the room a spot opened up at the playdough table...SCORE! And best of all, it was right next to one (she has 4) of the teachers. She sat down, the teacher engaged her right away and when I said goodbye, the teacher said, "Don't worry, I will be here with you until your Mama comes back to get you." Dang! I knew I picked a great school for her!!!

Fast forward a couple hours, an ice tea and adult conversation and it was time to pick CiBaby up from school. I scooted home, got T-Daddy and off we went...we didn't want to be late. It went great and we couldn't be more relieved. She was "all-smiles, all day." YIPPY!!!

And off we go.

Not just a "fair" day...

A State Fair Day!!!

What a great day at The Fair! A bike ride to and from and met up with G-Mama and Bopa for lots of walking, hopping, skipping, running, petting, eating fun!!!

The Eat Local Challenge: Day 17

With the bounty of the harvest kicking in...fresh tomatoes, ripe off the vine, eggplant and zucchini begging to be picked and used...I couldn't wait to cook up a batch of Ratatouille!

Sebha del Hdaree

Ratatouille with Dates from Cooking at the Kasbah by Kitty Morse

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded, de-ribbed and diced

3 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 fresh rosemary sprig

1 bay leaf

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 eggplant, peeled and cubed

2 zucchini, cubed

1/2 cup dates, pitted and chopped

2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 Tbsp slivered almonds, toasted

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a medium enameled casserole over medium-high heat, heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil and saute the onion and pepper until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaf, and garlic. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil and cook the eggplant and zucchini until the zucchini are golden, 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Add the eggplant, zucchini, dates and paprika to the mixture in the casserole. Stir to blend.

Cover tightly and bake until the vegetables are tender, 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and discard the rosemary and the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with toasted almonds. Serve hot or at room temperature.